Cajun GameNight!

Katherine and I decided to host another GameNight this week (we'll be attempting to have one every month while school is in session) and, this time, I thought it would be nice to also expose our residents to an American cuisine that they had likely never experienced: cajun! (The only restaurant in Hong Kong that serves cajun/creole dishes is Magnolia, a private dining room with very limited seating which requires reservations. Not entirely dissimilar from our GameNight, actually. ;>) Choosing which signature cajun dish to make wasn't easy (I considered red beans and rice, gumbo, étouffée, and jambalya), but in the end I decided that gumbo would make for the best introductory experience.

Let me walk you through the whole day...

Our advertisement

On our way to buy fresh shrimp, I noticed this sign and found it quite funny
(perhaps because of its redundancy and rather 1950s-like naiveté)

Buying 6lbs of still-hoppin' shrimp at the Kennedy Town wet market

Dumping the shrimp into a pot of boiling water. Poor fellows.

Getting those shrimp fully cooked (while also starting
the shrimp stock that is so critical to gumbo)

Two very kind residents offered to help in the preparations!

Peeling the shrimp (making sure to keep
the heads and skin for use in the stock)

The stock (the water used to cook the shrimp, the shrimp heads and skin,
green bell peppers, celery, and onions) as it begins its hour-long simmer.

The stock, finished and fully strained

Most of the ingredients which will be sautéd and added to the strained stock:
a blend of ten spices, onions, garlic, celery, green bell pepper,
and andouille sausage (sliced along the bias)

The soup thickening agent: baked roux. The most traditional way to make
roux is by frying one part oil and one part flour in a cast iron skillet, but
baking the flour instead is healthier, less dangerous, less time consuming,
and provides the exact same effect. To me, there's really no reason to do it
any other way (unless you are without an oven).

Activating the roux by rapidly stirring it into a few cups of boiling stock

The finished product!

(Before being ladled over rice and garnished with scallions)

The first batch of students hit the soup line

Folks hunker down wherever they can and dig in
(I also made a pan of cornbread, visible at the center of the table)

Let the games begin! Here we have some playing
Settlers of Catan and others playing on the XBox 360.

Pictionary gets rolling

We had about 25 folks involved in the evening and everyone had a grand time. I made about three gallons of gumbo, enough for about 30 servings, and it was all gobbled up (I think we might have a few more fans of cajun food in the world). As everyone was leaving, I was asked when the next GameNight would be and what I would be cooking. Very kind and flattering questions, but ones that indicate we may have set a dangerous precedent. ;> No matter, it was worth it, and perhaps cajun-themed gamenights will become a hallmark of our time here.